I am sorry to have to report that the proposal to create
FETAL-CELL-DIAGNOSTICS/bionet.diagnostics.fetal-cell did not gain the
required 80 votes and did not pass. The vote was only 30 YES to 2 NO.
Under our regulations this proposal can not be brought before the
voters again for at least three months. It appears that the proposers
need to do some leg work in light of the extremely small response.
Sincerely,
Dave Kristofferson
BIOSCI/bionet Manager
biosci-help at net.bio.net
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Proposal to etablish FETAL-CELL-DIAGNOSTICS/bionet.diagnostics.fetal-cell
Proposed USENET name: bionet.diagnostics.fetal-cell
Proposed mailing list name: FETAL-CELL-DIAGNOSTICS
Proposed e-mail addressess: fetldiag at net.bio.netfetldiag at daresbury.ac.uk
Discussion leaders: Aneal Chandra
chandra at cardiff.ac.uk
David Miller
davidm at pathology.leeds.ac.uk
Newsgroup Charter:
Cytogenetic testing is a relatively common procedure during pregnancy
to examine the health of the fetus. At the present time, amniocentesis
is often used to obtain fetal cells for the testing. Because
amniocentesis is an expensive, invasive and therefore potentially
harmful procedure to the fetus, alternative procedures are
being sought.
Clearly, a small number of fetal cells cross the placental barrier
and enter the maternal circulation during a normal pregnancy. If
these cells have nuclei, they contain the genetic material of the
fetus suitable for analysis. However, routine separation and
identification of these rare nucleated fetal cells represents a
considerable technical problem and several approaches are currently
under evaluation.
bionet.diagnostics.fetal-cell will be of potential benefit to all
within this dynamic field. It is intended to provide an easy access
environment facilitating
* rapid exchange of technical information between researchers in
fetal cell diagnostics
* co-operation between clinical laboratories, research biologists
and instrument designers permitting the technological refinements
necessary for the successful implementation of routine non-invasive
procedures
* discussion of the logistical and social impact of new technology
in prenatal diagnosis
Subscribers are welcome from academic and commercial institutions
including, but not limited to, developmental biology, genetics,
haematology, pathology, immunology, cell biology, etc.
Contributions within the functions outlined above are encouraged.
The newsgroup is expected to run in an unmoderated fashion and we
are willing to act as current coordinators.
Aneal Chandra
Scientist, Cytogentics Unit for Wales, UK
David Miller
Lecturer, Institute of Pathology, Leeds, UK
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